Matthew Collings was snowed in in Norfolk, so was sadly unable to join us, but the weather didn’t defeat The Arts Desk/London Art Fair debate. The Art Newspaper’s market expert Melanie Girles and TAD critic Mark Hudson rose to the challenge, while I did my best to steer the lively conversation.
Under discussion was the question of whether art as commodity had finally taken over from art as art, as Robert Hughes had predicted over 30 years ago, and whether crazy prices at auction ultimately changes our viewing experience.
Along the way we discussed art under totalitarian regimes, Carl Andre’s bricks, whether Damien Hirst still deserves to be taken seriously and whether major success and superstardom damages an artist’s creative impulse.
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